There’s a lot that’s not pretty in these two parts. Clearly, there seems to have been some outrageous and dangerous stuff going on; but equally clearly, there’s something creepy about state prosecution of religious dissent. As Augustine found out, the hand of the state can also chill free discussion and thus stand in the way of changing people’s minds with argument. So there’s a lot to think about here.

On the other hand, the story of Augustine’s digression is very comforting. In the end, you really don’t have any idea how other people are going to take things; and the effect you have on people is not really under your control. However, God is quite capable of putting all kinds of stuff to use; and if you offer yourself to serve Him, He may very well put you to use in some very odd ways.

You’ve got till next Friday to vote! Also, please notice that you can actually write in votes on the line below “Other”. So if you have an unlisted category or a specific work to suggest, you can put it there.
(As my mom always said, this isn’t a democracy; so this won’t be absolutely decided by vote. But as this podcast’s benevolent despot, I want your input, and the new poll feature seems like a good way to hear from you.)

UPDATE: I can see the “Other” write-in votes, but apparently nobody else can. I’ll keep you posted.

So far, we have 5 votes for Marmion’s Christ in the Mysteries (I think maybe that was multiple tries at getting the Other to show up), 1 vote for Romano Guardini, 1 vote for biography, and 1 “just testing”.

Much stuff by Bl. Marmion, and a couple of works by Guardini that have fallen into the public domain, are possibles; but I’ll have to look at it — and of course consider the other votes and my own preferences. :)